My Heart

There's no arguing with the power of Sissel's voice. The Norwegian soprano brought James Horner's Titanic to life and blew people away at the Lillehammer Olympics' opening ceremony. Positioned as a classical crossover performer, Sissel's talent and versatility gets her into trouble. The 12-song My Heart bounces back and forth from Andrew Lloyd Webber to Franz Schubert, from Astor Piazolla to Ennio Morricone. These different composers are reconciled into one album by her talent. She's less successful with a so-so version "Ave Maria," but does better with Puccini's tear-jerker aria "O Mio Babbino Caro." Things go aesthetically awry when the singer (who has recorded folk music in the past) dives into folk-pop with "Angel Eyes" and then spin completely out of control on Richard Marx's "Someone Like You," which is a jarring stab at light R&B. Seemingly formulated by marketing team, My Heart may succeed at getting radio airplay in different formats, but it's an album that loses its way at times. --Tad Hendrickson